Differentiation of Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli from Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli var. fuscans by PFGE and RFLP
Chan, J.W.Y.F.; Goodwin, P.H.
European Journal of Plant Pathology 105(9): 867-878
1999
ISSN/ISBN: 0929-1873
DOI: 10.1023/a:1008785809368
Accession: 003407371
Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli and X. campestris pv. phaseoli var. fuscans, the causal agents of the common and fuscous bacterial blight of beans, appear to be phenotypically identical except that the latter can produce a melanin-like pigment in culture. Ten isolates of X. campestris pv. phaseoli and 12 isolates of X. campestris pv. phaseoli var. fuscans were examined using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). The average genome sizes for X. campestris pv. phaseoli and X. campestris pv. phaseoli var. fuscans were 3850.6 +/- 48.9 and 3584.3 +/- 68.1 kb respectively. The genetic relatedness of the isolates was determined from macrorestriction patterns generated using XbaI. Cluster analysis indicated that the non-fuscous and fuscous strains are distinct. RFLP results, based on the highly conserved hrp genes and a pectate lyase gene from Xanthomonas, also indicated that the two bacteria are genetically different. The results obtained in this study suggest that this pathovar can be segregated into two subgroups under a recently proposed reclassification of the Xanthomonas genus.